“That’s odd,” Herbie said. “I think I was in a position to know if there was some other incident.”
“Do you know somebody who can sweep the apartment?”
“As it happens, I do. She’s my girlfriend, name of Harp O’Connor. She’s a PI and does all sorts of security work.”
“Could she come over? I’ll be home all day, working on a project.”
“Hang on a minute,” Herbie said, and pressed the hold button. He speed-dialed Harp’s cell.
“Hey, Herb.”
“Hi, babe. A friend, architect by the name of James Rutledge, thinks his apartment may have been bugged. Can you do a sweep for him?”
“Where?”
Herbie gave her the address. “It’s a loft downtown.”
“I can be there about four this afternoon,” she said.
“I’ll tell him. Thanks, babe.” He ended the call and pushed the other button. “Jim?”
“I’m here.”
“Harp will be there around four o’clock.”
“I’ll look forward,” Jim said. “Let’s have dinner some night soon.”
“Good idea. See ya.” Herbie hung up, thought for a couple of minutes, then called Stone Barrington. Joan put him through.
“Morning, Herbert.”
“Hey, Stone. Tell me, did something happen when we were at The Arrington? I mean, apart from the three bombs.”
Stone was quiet for a moment. “Why do you ask?”
“I just got a call from Jim Rutledge, the architect, who lives with Kelli Keane.” Herbie told him about her nearly being run down. “She thinks it’s because she told Jim about something that happened at The Arrington.”
“She told him about something that happened?”
“Well, no, she just intimated that something happened that she couldn’t talk about. Next day, a black SUV with darkened windows nearly takes her out. She’s scared.”
“Nothing happened that I know about,” Stone lied. “Will you let me know if you hear any further details about that?”
“Why?”
“I’d just like to know.”
“Okay, Stone, if I hear more, I’ll tell you. In the meantime, Harp is going over to Jim’s place to sweep it.” Herbie hung up. “Stone knows something,” he said aloud to himself. “What’s going on here?”
—
Stone called Holly on her personal cell phone.
“Hey, there,” she said.
“Hey. You get back to Langley okay?”
“Yep. Choppered in about an hour ago.”